The Finance Ministry has opened a housing project to build 500 housing units across the Maldives, but has limited bid submissions to Indian contractors, Haveeru News reports.
The Indian government allegedly offered the project, along with a US$40 million loan for its development, on the condition that only bids from Indian contractors be considered.
Haveeru News reports that contractors are required to make an initial bid deposit of US$400,000. They must register at the ministry before September 10.
A statement from the Finance Ministry allegedly said proposals must be submitted by September 26, and a pre-bid meeting will be held on September 8.
There is an unbearable emptiness to Maldivian political rhetoric. Everywhere we look are people who say what they do not mean, and mean what they do not say.
Take former President Gayoom’s pre-Ramadan Epiphany: Z-DRP and Adhaalath are ideological twins.
Since when? Does Adhaalath not espouse beliefs that Gayoom once allegedly had people tortured for? Legend has it that the kind of beards that men sport with such pride these days were once shaved with chilli powder by Gayoom’s henchmen. This is a madness in method missing even from the notorious ‘enhanced interrogation techniques’ at Guantanamo Bay.
Now, though, we are to believe that this vast ideological chasm between Gayoom and Them has been magically crossed. That somehow, in the turmoil of transition, the ideological kaleidoscope was shaken so much that Gayoom and Adhaalath are now soulmates.
Do you find it hard to believe that an individual could flip-flop across such vast ideological terrain in one lifetime, let alone in one political career (no matter how long)? Is it difficult to grasp how one man can go from actively banning the buruga to aligning himself with those who take the measure of a woman’s morality by the very same piece of cloth?
Do you find it difficult to get your head around how a man who once courted international diplomatic accolade with such rigour would now align himself with a party that thinks Iranian approval is a foreign policy victory? Even bearing in mind that this is Gayoom we are talking about, it is hard to make sense of such a complete volte face, is it not?
Do not be too hard on yourself, though, for no such vast ideological changes have occurred. The truth of the matter is there was no ideology to begin with. We are an ideologically empty vessel, and the proof is not just in the clamour that such vessels tend to make and we hear constantly on our airwaves. It is there to see in the many crossings made over seemingly irreconcilable ideological lines in recent times.
Remember DRP’s most vitriolic and vociferously anti-MDP figure in the Majlis, MP Ali Waheed, moving to MDP in May this year? The air was filled with such a triumphant yellow that everyone looked jaundiced. What was there to celebrate? That MDP was one man closer to an outright parliamentary majority.
Granted, a majority is clearly necessary if MDP is to surmount the blockades to progress set up by the Maldivian Tea Party-ers. But on how firm an ideological ground is a party willing to welcome – if not buy – a man who until the moment of transfer had been against everything the party stood for?
Fast-forward a few months, and there is Mr Ali Waheed, the proud owner of a MRF 4.6 million home, on the beachfront of Hulhumale’. How did he afford it? It is a question that one must not ask for fear of ‘politicising’ the issue, says the man himself. Indeed. These journalists must be insane to find anything political about an MP, even on the outrageous monthly income of Rf 60,000, buying a plot of land for almost Rf 5 million.
Then we have Adhaalath, the party of purists and the gatekeepers of heaven for Maldivians. One day they describe the West as the Great Satan, the Puppet Masters of the religiously weak Dhivehin, the corrupters of our children and the seducers of our youth. The next day they fly in individuals who represent the worst the West has to offer to lecture us on how we should conduct and govern ourselves.
British MP George Galloway
First there was Philip Green, according to whom England is a country full of drunken louts who do nothing but puke and urinate alcohol on the streets of London twenty four hours a day seven days a week.
Then Adhaalath proudly links us via video to George Galloway, former UK MP and Celebrity Big Brother star who once danced on national television in a pink lycra cat-suit. While even sinful liberals found Galloway’s behaviour hard to comprehend, self-righteous Adhaalath seems to have had no such qualms.
If Adhaalath believes what it says, how can it hold Galloway up as a figure of authority to the same people that it wants to cleanse of all alleged Western debauchery? Galloway’s decisions in the Middle East have not been exactly wise, to put it kindly. But that’s all right, because Adhaalath found some perverse use to make of him. And Galloway lapped it all up, like the cat that he was on Big Brother, happily dictating our foreign policy as ‘an entirely Muslim country’.
And this, ladies and gentlemen, in the same week we were celebrating our independence from British protection. It was also the same week in which Gayoom was speaking of the imminent threat we face from a supposed revitalisation of British imperial ambitions.
Ideological complexities? No. Lack of ideology, lack of a purpose except one’s own political or pecuniary power. What matters is knowing which side of your bread your Halal butter is on. What matters is that there is a pot of political gold at the end of the rainbow of beliefs one can feel free to pick and choose from.
This emptiness of rhetoric, of being, is dangerous.
As we saw from the riots in London earlier this month, when the people at the top believe that it is okay to rob from the poor with impunity like the bankers did in the West; and that it is alright to violate the rights of others as Murdoch’s news empire did in Britain – the chances are that the little people below may feel free to do the same.
If we want a society with purpose and belief, we need leaders who say what they mean; not individuals who take a Hypocrite’s Oath when assuming office.
To see the future of things to come if we continue on this path of duplicity, we need only look at the rampant hypocrisy among us from the designation of ‘Top Fashion Accessory’ status to the buruga to the ‘Back to the Prophet’s Day’ men on Harley Davidsons with their orange beards grotesquely flowing in the wind.
If all this is doing your head in, sign up for an Incantation Class at the Islamic Foundation’s Halal Magic Courses. Book early, though. They are proving even more popular than the fishnet stockings and the Botox shots that are to accompany next season’s lamé burugas.
All comment pieces are the sole view of the author and do not reflect the editorial policy of Minivan News. If you would like to write an opinion piece, please send proposals to [email protected]
Parliament’s National Security Committee has voted in favor of signing a memorandum of understanding with the UN to send Maldivian soldiers to UN conflict zones for peacekeeping operations.
According to the parliament, all the members of the committee were present at the meeting last Monday when the voting was held, including Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) MP Rozaina Adam, Peoples Alliance Party (PA) MP Abdulraheem Abdulla and DRP MP Mohamed Nashiz.
The committee will now submit the matter to parliament for approval.
On April 5, the cabinet decided to sign a memorandum of understanding with the UN to deploy Maldivian soldiers to UN conflict zones, noting that it would be important for the Maldives to contribute to these international efforts to ensure that every country, society and individual had the opportunity to live in peace and security.
The decision was then sent to the parliament for approval, and the parliament voted in favor of sending it to the National Security Committee to examine the issue further.
According to 243[b] of the constitution, “if the President, as Commander in Chief, authorizes or orders the employment of the military service in defence of the republic or as part of an international undertaking, the President shall without delay submit the authorisation to the People’s Majlis. The People’s Majlis may at any time approve the authorisation, or revoke the authorisation.”
Speaking on the matter in parliament, opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) MP, Ahmed Mahlouf, said the issue was concerning.
“This is no joke, this is a very serious issue,” he said. “I do not think any honorable member would want to send some Maldivians abroad to their deaths.”
Mahlouf said death was a real possibility in peacekeeping operations. He also noted that it was possible that terrorists would target the Maldives if Maldivian soldiers were sent to participate in peacekeeping operations.
Religious NGO Jamiyyathul Salaf also expressed concern over the issue and called on the government to withdraw the decision.
Salaf at the that time claimed that any Muslim who assisted non-Muslims in a war against Muslims would themselves be branded infidels.
“Muslims will be obliged to treat him as a non-Muslim in all ways, such as if dead, burying without enshrouding the body, burying the body with other non-believer, and when dealing with inheritance matters the terms and condition that applies to a non-believer who dies in a war against Muslims will be applied to him,” the NGO said.
Police have released suspects arrested for their alleged involvement in the human trafficking network that exposed last month, Haveeru reports, after the Criminal Court found no grounds to detain them.
The number of suspects released is unknown.
Five Maldivians and 12 expatriates were previously arrested for their alleged roles in the human trafficking network, said to worth up to US$123 million. The ring reportedly to forged over 70 local investments using copies of national identity cards belonging to individuals who were uninformed or deceased.
None of the suspects released today were expatriates involved in that particular case, Haveeru News reports.
Minivan News earlier reported that human trafficking has replaced the fishing industry as the Maldivian economy’s second greatest contributor of foreign currency.
President Mohamed Nasheed has pledged the Maldives’ support to the Libyan National Transitional Council (NTC) in a letter yesterday, recognising the rebel group as the “sole legitimate representative of the Libyan people.”
The letter, which was sent to NTC chief Mustafa Abdul Jalil, expressed the President’s hope that Libya would “emerge as a free and democratic country, in which fundamental human rights can be enjoyed by all.”
In recent days, Libya’s six-month long revolution against dictator Muammar Gaddafi came to a close when NTC rebels seized Tripoli. Currently, Qaddafi’s whereabouts are unknown and over thirty foreign powers have recognised the NTC as Libya’s legitimate representative group.
President Nasheed noted in his letter to NTC chief Jalil that the Maldives was among the first three countries to recognize the NTC. Iraq, Morocco, the US and European Union member countries have also recognised the group, while Russia and China do not recognise the NTC as Libya’s only legitimate representative but are still engaging in talks with NTC leaders.
Ethiopia and Nigeria have called on African Union member states to recognise the NTC, and Hamas had declared its support of the rebel group.
The President’s Press Secretary, Mohamed Zuhair, said today that “The Maldives is in favor of democracy, and feels any government should recognise the voices of its people. We are continuing our support of the Libyan rebels, and asking other countries to do the same.”
Zuhair said the Maldives was one of the first Islamic countries to experience a democratic revolution. In 2005, the Maldivian people began the uprising that ousted former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom in 2008.
“The same thing that is happening all over the Arab world has already happened here,” Zuhair said. “We are ahead of them, and we can share our experience.”
The Maldives, which has been a Muslim state for over 900 years, has one of the longest traditions of shariah law in the Arab world, said Zuhair. He said the Maldives encourages the Libyan NTC to apply democratic norms and values, and to use many small elections as they build a modern Muslim democracy.
“The Maldives would like to see Libya become a modern Islamic democratic state that is fully functional,” said Zuhair.
Colonel Gaddafi was only 27 when he took control of Libya after a military coup in 1969. His 42 years of power brought wealth to Libya, but his reign was also characterised by erratic policies and terrifying punishments. When the revolution began in February of this year, Gaddafi reportedly said, “Muammar is the leader of the revolution until the end of time.”
Earlier this week, the NTC reportedly placed a US$2 million bounty on Gaddafi’s head.
Over 700,000 tourists visited the Maldives in the first seven months of 2011, the majority of visitors from China.
The Tourism Ministry has released data showing that the number of tourists who visited the Maldives between January and July 2011 increased by 18.3 percent to 520,483. This was compared to the 439,864 tourists who visited the Maldives during the same period last year.
Maldives Association of Travel Agents and Tour Operators (MATATO) Secretary General, Mohamed Maleeh Jamal, told Minivan News that the timing of Europe’s economic decline matches that of the growing Chinese market. Asia’s high season corresponds with Europe’s low season, he said, and resorts are now catering more to Chinese tourists to keep business up.
Jamal also noted that airlines such as Qatar Airways had increased direct service to the Maldives in the last 10 months. He also noted that more airports are being constructed closer to resort islands, such as in Baa Atoll.
“The President has also decided to increase the marketing budget from US$1.5 million to US$7 million, since we expect the industry’s growth to continue,” said the MATATO secretary general.
Statistics show that Chinese tourists dominated the market in the first seven months with 103,734 individuals, accounting for 19.9 percent of the total arrivals. The United Kingdom was the second-largest contributor to tourism arrivals, composing 11.7 percent of the market.
Jamal forecasted “phenomenal growth” in the Chinese market, and estimated that the Chinese would account for 40 percent of the total tourists in coming years.
The Maldives currently hosts over 100 resorts boasting a total of 22,000 beds. Jamal said 3-4 more resorts were currently under construction, and noted that it was important “to always have excess demand and limited rooms to keep the appeal of the Maldives up.”
Secretary General of the Maldives Association of the Tourism Industry (MATI), Ibrahim Mohamed Sim, was more guarded on the issue. Sim told Minivan News that “we are holding steady in growth, but the market looks mixed since the decline of the US economy could affect our traditional European markets.”
Italy and the UK, formerly leading contributors to the Maldivian tourism industry, have declined, said Sim, but Germany was holding steady.
Sim said the demand from China was significant, and that the Maldives “is in a very lucky position to have the chance to meet that demand.”
Sources in the Chinese media and Mandarin-language tourism forums have meanwhile noted the rise of practices such as segregation of Chinese visitors from other guests at meal times.
Sim commented that although he did not believe there was segregation, the Chinese “stand out, they come here for a different reason than most tourists. They do not come here to sun tan, they come here to see a different place.” He noted that some resorts were also designed to specifically appeal to different groups.
Another recent event in the Maldives’ tourism industry was its withdrawal from the New7Wonders competition.
Jamal told Minivan News, “we think it was a loss that the Maldives pulled out. New7Wonders was a marketing tool, and major tourism companies were competing for the award.”
However he said he did not think that the Maldives’ decision had affected the tourism industry.
National Social Protection Agency (NSPA) Director, Ibrahim Waheed, has told Haveeru that the Madhana health insurance scheme will not cover increased fees at private clinics. The government lifted control of clinic charges this week.
Earlier this week, an informed source told Minivan News that the clinic fees were likely to stay within the scope of the Madhana’s program.
NSPA reported said the Madhana program only covers the rates currently charged at hospitals and clinics. Any excess charges after the current Madhana rate will have to be paid for by the patient.
Haveeru News reports that some clinics have agreed to keep their current rates, to protect their clients. However, those clinics that want to increase their prices will be required to stop providing insurance services.
Clinics are still required to give the government a month’s notice before implementing price changes.
The Prosecutor General’s (PG) Office has charged Ibrahim Shahum Adam with terrorism through gang violence, alleging that he murdered 17 year-old Mohamed Hussein and 21 year-old Ahusan Basheer.
Haveeru reported that Shahum denied the charges and again asked for time to find a lawyer.
Shahum was recently sentenced to a year in prison for attacking a student in an Imam course they were both studying. If convicted on terrorism, he faces execution, banishment or life imprisonment.
Haveeru reported that following today’s hearing, Shahum threatened journalists present that “you should consider your own safety.”
All expatriate staff working in Thaa Atoll Hospital on the island of Veymandoo in Thaa Atoll have resigned following a strike over visa and financial issues with the Health Corporation.
Assistant Manager and spokesperson for Thaa Atoll Hospital, Midhath Naseer, told Minivan News that the hospital’s doctors had submitted their resignations, which were accepted on Sunday.
“On Sunday there was no doctor at the hospital, but the next day at 12:00pm we replaced all the doctors by bringing them in from Laamu Atoll and nearby islands. They have started working and the hospital is fully functioning,’’ Midhath said. “We arranged it so that any patient with a critical condition could receive services.”
Midhath said the major issue was that the expat doctors’ visas were not renewed before they expired, which made it difficult for them to return to their home countries in urgent cases.
‘’One of the doctors apologised to us and withdrew the resignation,’’ he said, adding that the doctor had now rejoined Thaa Atoll Hospital.
He said the expat doctors and nurses who resigned had also complained about being included in the pension scheme, which lowered their wages.
Atoll Councilor Abdulla Shareef told Minvan News that the resigned doctors and nurses were still on the island and that he did not know when they would depart.
‘’They met us recently, but since the Health Corporation has accused the Atoll Council of politicising this issue after we met with them, we are not involved in this anymore,’’ Shareef said. ‘’But the council thinks that we being the Atoll Councilors have the authority to meet with them anytime they request.’’
Shareef said that he did not have any official information about the resignations.
The doctors and nursing staff working at the hospital – which is almost entirely staffed by expatriates – declared themselves on strike on Sunday, and met with the atoll council to discuss their issues.
Haveeru reported that head of the Atoll Council, Shareef, had told the paper that the Health Corporation was counting staff as having used their vacation days despite staff waiting in the Maldives for their visas to be renewed.
Doctors and nurses told the council that in some cases their vacation days were all but spent by the time they actually reached their home country.
Shareef also told the paper that the hospital was using expired medicines imported during 2004 tsunami, and that doctors were being blamed for not having enough medicine in the hospital.
Meanwhile, an Indian gynecologist working at the Hoarafushi Health Centre in Haa Alifu Atoll has declared that she will “never come back to the Maldives” after two masked islanders attacked and gagged her on Monday night.
“They broke in to my room with their faces covered, holding knives, and they tried to attack me,” the doctor told Minivan News yesterday. “I could only see their eyes. It was like the worst nightmare I have ever seen.”
(0)Dislikes
(0)Dislikes
(0)